I Am The Game's Villain

Chapter 632: [Event] [The Beauty And The Beast] [12] Rodolf’s Anger

An hour had passed since I parted ways with Roda. The sun had dipped lower by the time I returned to the castle—our temporary residence as Elites and nobles of Sancta Vedelia. We weren’t housed in the royal quarters, obviously, but in one of the guest wings built specifically for dignitaries like us. Still, the place was luxurious enough, and each of us had our own private rooms. A small slice of nobility, even if only borrowed.

After a quick shower, I collapsed onto the soft mattress. The warm sheets wrapped around me like a cocoon, and before I knew it, sleep had taken me.

Or so I thought.

Barely ten minutes in, a knock at my door jolted me awake. I groaned, peeling myself off the bed and dragging my feet toward the door. The last thing I wanted was to deal with someone right now.

When I opened it, I blinked in surprise.

Standing awkwardly in the hallway, shuffling from one foot to the other, was Roda. She looked... uncomfortable. Her arms were crossed tightly, and she refused to meet my eyes.

”Roda?” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, squinting at her. ”What are you doing here?”

Or rather what the hell are you doing here?!

She glanced up briefly, still avoiding my gaze.

”I... I don’t have anywhere to stay,” she mumbled.

I stared at her, dumbfounded. ”Wait, what? How did you even get here?”

This was her grandmother’s palace. Even if she had covered herself well, someone could’ve recognized her. It was risky—borderline reckless.

”This is my castle.”

”...”

”I tried to get close to my old room,” she said with a soft grumble, ”but Grandma will sense me if I go near it. She always does.”

That... didn’t exactly explain much. She could’ve stayed at an inn or something. Unless—right. She didn’t have any money. I sighed inwardly.

A princess without a home. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Maybe she just wanted to see her childhood room again. To feel something familiar, even if just for a night.

I sighed seeing her like that.

I could’ve told her it was too dangerous, or handed her some money and insisted she find a safer place—but how could I throw her out? Especially from her own castle.

Roda must’ve seen the hesitation on my face, because she immediately began to turn away.

”S-Sorry, maybe I should just go—”

”Wait,” I cut in. ”It’s fine. It’s not like it’s the first time anyway.”

She blinked in surprise.

”Thanks,” she said quietly, almost like she didn’t expect me to say yes.

I stepped aside and let her in.

Maybe all she wanted was to sleep under this roof one last time—to feel like a part of this place again, even if just for a night.

I wondered, had her old home been destroyed too? She never said, but... judging by how she looked tonight, the answer felt obvious.

She really had it rough huh...

In the end, just like back in the hotel, we ended up sleeping in the same bed. This one was much larger and had enough space to keep a respectful distance. But what caught my attention was that, unlike last time, Roda didn’t bother building a pillow wall between us.

A subtle change... but maybe it meant something.

Maybe she trusted me now.

”Good night,” she muttered as she turned away, pulling the blanket up to her shoulders.

”Yeah... good night,” I replied quietly, closing my eyes.

...

...

-Thud!

”Huh?!”

My eyes snapped open. The door had burst open with a loud thud, the sudden noise tearing me from sleep. Instinct took over—I sat up straight and summoned a sword to my hand, ready for a fight.

Only to freeze.

Standing in the doorway was Rodolf.

”Nyr! We have a problem—” He began, but the words stopped short as his gaze shifted toward the bed.

Toward Roda.

She had sat up too, startled by the noise. Her hand clutched the blanket tightly around her as she blinked in confusion.

Oh no.

I watched Rodolf’s eyes widen as realization dawned on him. His jaw slackened in disbelief.

”You...”

I scrambled off the bed, already bracing for the explosion. ”W–Wait, I can explain—!”

How the hell was I supposed to explain this?!

”U–Uncle...” Roda whispered, staring at him like she was seeing a ghost. And in a way, she was.

I resisted the urge to slap my own face.

There it was. She just gave herself away.

”Roda...” Rodolf repeated, stunned, eyes locked on her like she’d been plucked straight from a dream.

My gaze flicked to the room, checking for any signs of reality distortion or temporal interference. Nothing. Thank the gods—no timeline breaks. At least not yet.

But emotionally?

Yeah, I was about to deal with a major one.

Rodolf’s awe shifted into something sharper as he turned his gaze toward me. His eyes narrowed with the kind of fury only an overprotective uncle could muster.

”Nyr...How much of a scumbag have you become?”

”We didn’t do anything!” I shot back quickly. ”First, calm down—”

”You bastard!”

Rodolf lunged at me with absolutely no hesitation.

”Wait, Uncle!” Roda leapt in between us, throwing out her arms to stop him.

”Roda!” Rodolf’s face was flushed red with anger and disbelief. ”You dare sneak into a man’s room?! Inside your own castle, no less?! What am I going to say to Brian? You skipped class for that?”

”T–This isn’t what it looks like!” Roda shouted.

Rodolf’s eyes narrowed further, his gaze raking over her white hair and white eyes. ”You really thought dyeing your hair and wearing contact lenses would fool me? Do you think I’m that dumb?!”

”I mean... yeah?”

Roda snapped her head toward me. ”Edward!”

I immediately shut up.

Rodolf, however, was done playing around. ”I will kill you, Nyr!”

”Uncle!”

”Roda... you disappoint me. How far have you fallen?” Rodofl’s fists clenched at his sides. He couldn’t meet her eyes. ”First Victor... and now him too? Are you really playing with both of them?”

His voice cracked slightly at the end. Hurt, not just angry.

”What does that make you? A prostitute?”

I barely managed to stifle a laugh, pressing my palm against my mouth. That came out of nowhere—but the sheer drama of it all nearly had me choking. Not the time, though.

Roda didn’t say anything. She just stood there, her expression unreadable—lips curved into a cold, too-perfect smile that never made it to her eyes. It was the kind of smile that said everything and nothing at once.

Rodolf glared at her. ”What? Don’t give me that look—Ugh!”

-BAM!

In a flash, he was launched clean across the room, disappearing through the open hallway and out the window like a bad action movie stuntman.

”Damn...”

...

...

Ten minutes later.

Rodolf returned with a bruised cheek and a noticeably humbled demeanor. Despite the swelling, he didn’t look all that mad anymore—just surprised, and maybe a little embarrassed.

”So... Roda from the previous timeline?” He muttered.

”Yeah,” I said, giving him a brief rundown of everything that had happened so far—timeline messes, Roda’s history, the whole tangled story. Roda chimed in with her own perspective, filling in gaps I couldn’t.

To my relief, it didn’t take long to convince him. Honestly, I thought it would be a whole ordeal. But maybe because Rodolf wasn’t just Rodolf—he was also a Yanis. He had knowledge of Earth, and he’d seen his fair share of strange. In some twisted way, this wasn’t even the weirdest thing he’d encountered.

He turned toward Roda, his expression softening. Quietly he stepped closer to her—and then pulled her into a gentle hug.

Roda stiffened in surprise, her eyes going wide for a second. But then her body relaxed into the embrace.

”I’m sorry,” he said. ”I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

His expression twisted, pain flashing through his features. He’d asked her earlier about what happened in her original world—about their family, about the scars she didn’t show. She had tried to remain composed, keeping her emotions buried behind that calm front she always wore. But seeing Rodolf now, here and real... it was too much.

”U–Uncle...” She whispered, her voice breaking as she clutched him tighter. Silent tears fell onto his shoulder.

Among the Moonfangs, I’d always noticed that Rodolf and Roda shared a bond that felt more like siblings than uncle and niece. Maybe that’s why this hit so hard for both of them.

After a few long moments, Rodolf let her go and turned toward me.

At least one mess avoided today.

But of course... he wasn’t done.

”That still doesn’t explain what she was doing in your room,” Rodolf said, narrowing his eyes at me suspiciously.

”What do you want me to say, Rodolf?” I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose in growing irritated. ”That I slept with your niece? Would that make you feel better?”

”You bastard—!”

”Uncle, please!” Roda jumped in, stepping between us before the situation could devolve into full-blown chaos. ”It’s my fault! I—I forced him!”

That... definitely made it worse.

”You... forced him?” Rodolf muttered his expression turned ghostly.

[]

Shut up!

”N–No! That’s not what I meant!” Roda waved her hands rapidly, cheeks flushing a deep red. ”I meant I forced him to let me sleep here. Because... I didn’t have anywhere else to go...”

Now she was blushing like she’d just confessed her undying love at a school play. Great. And somehow, I was the one standing here like the guilty party in a drama I didn’t audition for when I was the victim and I should be the one blushing in embarrassment!

Rodolf’s anger flickered—then dimmed. Her last words seemed to hit him somewhere deep. Maybe the idea that she’d been so desperate, she had nowhere else to sleep, brought him back to reality.

”You could’ve come to me,” he said softly.

”We didn’t know what would happen if two people from different timelines met,” I explained, trying to steer the mood into something that didn’t involve more screaming or broken furniture. ”We weren’t sure if it could mess with the world. But... it looks like you were lucky to have Yanis inside you.”

Roda raised a brow. ”Yanis?”

”Yeah. My friend from my past life—the one I told you about,” I said simply.

”W–What?!”

”I’ll explain it in full later,” I said, quickly sidestepping the tiring lore dump. ”But right now, what’s more important is why you came. You didn’t burst in here just to start swinging fists over a sleepover, right?”

Rodolf blinked, like the reminder had finally reached his brain. ”Ah! Right—yes. That’s what I came for. Two of the three prisoners we captured... they’re dead. They were found lifeless in their cells this morning.”

Huh?